Description
The project implemented between March 2014 and October, 2015 for youth aged 16-19 in Grójec, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Płock and adjacent communities is designed to improve public participation, encourage involvement in local initiative by engaging participants in decision-making, team work, creating opportunities for sharing opinions and making a difference, using social knowledge and skills by launching a Youth Bank covering youth community projects. The contribution of the Partner with 8 years of experience in developing Youth Banks in Romania and other European countries jointly with young people will allow the project to tap into the knowledge and best practices and tailor it to Polish realities.
Summary of project results
"The YouthBank project (YB) is a response to the low level of community and public participation among youth. Only 10 per cent of young Poles have come across NGO activities and only 9 per cent have actually participated in them mainly because they do not believe they can make any difference (E. Tomaszewicz, A. Kryszkiewicz, Ile jest Europejczyka w młodym Polaku? [How European is the Young Polish Person]). The goal was to increase the level of responsibility of young people for community participation of their peers. Thirty youth leaders learned to design and evaluate community projects, develop and implement fund-raising campaigns, gain the support of local government, business and private individuals, and speak to the media. By participating in a range of workshops and training activities, the leaders learned about social needs, who and how should react to them and how they themselves can solve local issues; they learned to design and evaluate community projects, raise funds, encourage peers to get involved in solving specific social issues in their community; they then organised a request for proposals open to their peers, raised money to fund the best youth projects, monitored their implementation and financial reporting, promoted their efforts in media and gained the support of local government, business and local community. The YB leaders learned to take responsibility for their decisions, make their case, work as a team and manage projects. Sixteen projects were implemented for the benefit of 819 individuals. Project beneficiaries included youth aged 15-19 in Białobrzegi, Płock and Żuromin. The project was implemented in collaboration with a Romanian partner, Association for Community Relations ,that has eight years worth of experience developing the YB network. The Foundation joined the international YB network and gained access to the best global YB tools and expertise. It developed the Polish YB methodology and became the YB Country Co-ordinator for Poland responsible for developing the YB network in Poland."
Summary of bilateral results